Module 5: Los Gatos Black on Halloween

Book Summary: A bilingual Halloween story about black cats, mummies, monsters, witches, skeletons, and the dead who come out to party together but are scared away by the creepiest of all the Halloween creatures... trick or treaters!

APA Reference of Book: Montes, M., & Morales, Y. (2006). Los gatos black on Halloween. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Impressions: I absolutely love Halloween and black cats especially (I have one) so I was drawn to this book. I thought that the integration of Spanish vocabulary with the English writing was very interesting and easy to understand. The illustrations might be a bit too creepy for very young children, but once they hit around kindergarten age they would most likely enjoy this book.I particularly liked the ending of the book and that all of the monsters are frightened of the children who are out trick or treating. Whether you already know the Spanish words or not the poem-like book is very enjoyable to read.
 
Professional Review:

From Booklist (2006):

"Montes' evocative poem deserves exceptional artwork, and Morales obliges. Her soft-edged paintings glow with the luminosity of jewels, and her witches, werewolves, and corpses are frighteningly executed. Therein lies what may be a problem for preschoolers. These fiends aren't particularly kid-friendly; they are dead-eyed, Day of the Dead folk who scare. For slightly older children, however, this spookiness is what Halloween is all about. The Spanish is neatly integrated into the text, but for those who need clarification, a glossary is appended." — Ilene Cooper

[Review of Los Gatos Black on Halloween].  (2006). Booklist.  Retrieved from www.booklist.com


Library Uses: This would be perfect as part of a bilingual program for Halloween. children who are old enough to read could work with matching the Spanish vocabulary with pictures of the objects. or have a copy of the story with blanks for the words to fill in themselves.